A Quick Recap On World Events Occurring On Sunday, The 17th Of February, 2013

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A series of car bombs kill at least 37 people and injure more than 130 others in mostly Shiite areas of the capital Baghdad. (BBC) (AP)(Los Angeles Times)
• Nigerian Sharia conflict:
  • In Nigeria six foreign workers, of which one Italian, one Greek and two Lebanese, are kidnapped in a construction site, one security guard is killed. (BBC)

Arts and culture

• American country music singer Mindy McCready dies as the result of a suspected suicide at the age of 37. (E! Online) (BBC)

Business and economy

• Government of Venezuela opens a granite processing plant in the state of Bolívar, with the intention of providing about 25% of the granite required nationwide. (Pub Memo)

Disasters and accidents

• Five people are killed and eleven are injured, two seriously, when an apartment complex is destroyed by a gas explosion in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic. (Prague Daily Monitor)

Politics and elections

• Voters in Ecuador go to the polls for a general election with incumbent President Rafael Correa claiming a landslide victory. (Reuters)(BBC) (The New York Times) (IOL News)
• Voters in Cyprus go to the polls for a presidential election with Nicos Anastasiades of the Democratic Rally and Stavros Malas of AKEL to contest a runoff on 24 February. (AAP via NineMSN)
• Protests occur in Pakistan demanding protection for Shiite Muslims following yesterday's bombing in Quetta that killed 84 people. (AFP via Channel News Asia) (Ary News)

Sport

• In cricket, Australia defeats West Indies in the final of the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup. (BBC Sport) (Cricket Country)
• In biathlon, Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tora Berger become the main heroes of the 2013 Biathlon World Championships in Nové Město,Czech Republic. (IBU) (Biathlon WC2013)
• In beach soccer, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil secure qualification for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. (FIFA) (BeachSoccer)
• In motorsport, Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win pole position at the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. (AP via ESPN) (CNN)
• In speed skating, Sven Kramer wins the men's 2013 World Allround Speed Skating Championships for a record sixth time. Ireen Wüst wins the women's title. (Eurosport) (NRC.nl) (Le Matin)